Labor's Edge: Views from the California Labor Movement

Rome Aloise, International Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., sent letters to the CEOs of six East Bay-area companies this week, asking them to support the unionization efforts of the drivers that transport their employees. The drivers, employees of Compass Transportation, are seeking union representation and a contract.

The majority of the 120 full-time and part-time drivers have signed authorization cards for representation by Local 853. Aloise formally requested that Compass Transportation recognize the Teamsters as the bargaining agent for the drivers and enter into negotiations for a contract.

“We stand ready to prove our majority status by submitting authorizations of representation to a mutually agreeable third party,” Aloise wrote in his letter to Compass Transportation on Jan. 8. “Teamsters Local 853 is hopeful that we can establish a relationship that will benefit both your company and your employees.”

Compass Transportation, which has service agreements with Apple, Yahoo, Ebay, Zynga, Genetech and Amtrak, forces the drivers to work and be present for as long as 12-16 hours a day but only pays their employees for eight. Most drivers can’t afford to live anywhere near where they work, and the extra hours keep them from their families.

“You can make a difference in the lives of the workers who support your employees and enable them to make your company incredibly successful,” Aloise wrote in his letters to the CEOs. “Companies such as yours have been a source for social change. It is time that you are a force to change the lives of those that make what you do possible.”